Diamond in the Rough
by WakaWakaNevermore
Summary: Slight shounen ai. Jack screws up all the time. His latest, however, has given him some comfort in the end. Jack/Rai


I only own this story. **FAN**fiction is a neat site, right? There should be no need for disclaimers.

If you squint really hard, you'll see shounen ai.

* * *

Jack was humming a tune as he worked on another one of his robots, fine tuning the parts to make the mechanical beast as strong as it could become. With a hopeless sigh, he dropped the wrench and moped, not noticing the tool as it clanged and dislodged a few parts. The Xiaolin monks had already won three in a row and the last fight was hardly a fight at all. He couldn't give up of course, his obsessive personality would never let this down.

'Jack, you can't give up! Those losers can't keep going on their winning streak forever!' His thoughts had rung in his head. As much as it sounded good to himself, they were purely hollow words.

"Jack, you imbecile! Get your sorry butt over here!"

Quietly, he trudged over to the odd spirit, wondering what she wanted now.

"What now, Wuya?"

"A new Shen Gong Wu has shown up."

"So?"

"SO?! I want you to retrieve it!!" Even for a bodiless creature, her anger could make just about anyone do anything she desired.

"Okay, okay..."

Pulling out the hellipack, he flew up, recieving directions on just where the 'stupid thing' was hiding.

* * *

Omi stared at the tannish Sphinx, perplexed on its enormous size.

"This ruler is almost as amazing as me..." He stated in his narcissistc way.

"Yeah... So Dojo, where's the Wu?" Rai asked quickly, feeling like just going in and out without fuss.

"Should be somewhere stuck in the cracks on the nose. You'll see it pretty soon."

As promised, a golden beetle protruded from a deep crack.

Dojo flew close to it, waiting for one of the kids to pull it out. Clay was out of the picture; just too big for his own good. Omi would have fit perfectly if his head wasn't so big. Despite being very tough, Kimi couldn't pull it out without greasing it or something, but there was no time to get the tools for a job like this.

"Just as the woman's guide said, 'women have little upper body strength'," Omi thoughtlessly quoted, earning a dirty look from the girl.

"Mention that book one more time and your head's gonna be stuck along with the Wu!" Kimiko threatened, which gave Omi the look of a kicked puppy.

Sighing, Raimundo went up to the huge pile of rocks, giving his try. It was really deep in, and narrow to a point where he actually understood exactly why Omi couldn't get in deeper than two inches.

"No pressure Rai!" The cowboy called. "If you can't get it out, I'll just bust the rocks away faster than a horse runnin' from a group a snakes in the middle of-" Whatever stopped Clay's Texan metaphor seemed like a blessing in disguise to the irritable Rai - that is, until he felt something slam into him with a huge force. The next thing he knew, he was in some dark room with the last person in the world he'd want to be with.

* * *

Jack had been keeping an eye out where the Shen Gong Wu was, waiting for the 'losers' to show up and dislodge the thing. He had tried before to get the darn thing out, but his arms were just too weak from lack of excersize, unless tightening bolts was a physical activity. Even if it was, it didn't give him enough muscle. The mechanic could have just exploded the Sphinx, but the idea of breaking something so amazing gave him a sting of pain near his heart. Silly, but he would never forgive himself if he broke such a marvel.

Whilst the monks were working on it, Jack revved his pack. The evil boy genius must have been waiting in the sun too long because he could have sworn that the Scarab of Rah was glinting in Rai's hand. Either way, it was too late. He went as fast as he could, hoping to catch the monks off guard long enough to give an evil laugh and fly off with the prize.

Jack hit Rai in the back with full force, but not on purpose. The dragon of wind was pushed into the Sphinx, literally.

The Sphinx was hollow inside. There was a thick enough layer of rock to keep the beast up for so long, but let's not go into those details. The thing is, Rai has the Wu, and Jack doesn't. This is a problem to Jack. Within a moment of desperation, the evil (not-so-genius) genius slipped into the newly made enterance as quickly as possible. Maybe if he scooped up the Scarab fast in all the commotion, he could run off and fight another day.

Too bad the fall was higher than he thought.

* * *

Rai rubbed over his eyes to remove a few particles of dust. It was dark, but the small amount of light coming in showed him enough of the place to know he hadn't died from the fall. Looking at the faint glow to his left, he stared at the Shen Gong Wu's eyes. A moment went by with the awkward staring contest. Rai guessed the Scarab of Rah wouldn't move like a few of the other Wu. Something else else though, did.

With a tingle of surprise going down his spine, his gaze snapped to his right. Jack! He shot upright, ready to punch the boy if he dared to pocket the Wu. After a split second, he realized Jack had passed out. _Probably landed on his head... _Raimundo thought bitterly. Watching his slow breathing and peaceful expression, Rai relaxed. He looked adorable like this. Much more tolerable. Too bad he didn't show this in his waking life.

A low groan came from Jack. It signalled Rai to take the Scarab and hide it in his robes.

"Ungh, my head... Where am I?"

"I don't know. Why don't you tell me?"

Jack looked at the owner of the voice with wide eyes and was about to scream when a hand went over his mouth.

"Quiet! I don't know about you, but I don't feel like being buried alive under two tons of rock."

Once the hand left, Jack said as angrily, yet as softly, as he could muster, "How did I get stuck here with a Xioalin loser like you?!" Rai gave an annoyed glance before answering, "YOU slammed into me and we both fell in here, Genius." Recalling the moment, Jack gave a nervous laugh. Suddenly realizing how dire this situation was, he tried to activate the hellipack and escape. It didn't work. Pulling off the bag, he saw the broken metal. "Oh no! It must've broken when I fell!" He almost screamed. Rai wanted to say 'that's what you get', but he decided to scoot over to a pile of rubble and sit comfortably. Maybe if he meditated, he'd forget about where he was and relax until help came.

Sadly, because of the person groveling right next to him, he couldn't.

"Stop that!" Rai growled, wishing Jack was still knocked out. The evil genius looked up at him, his eyeliner already making a grey line down his face. "B-but... as soon as you're saved, you guys are leave me here to die!" Woah, total drama queen; or king, in this case. "So? You're the one who caused all this trouble. It's what you deserve!" Jack didn't say a word more, but his tears must have doubled, Rai figured, because both eyes looked bloodshot and the streaks down his face were becoming a shade darker.

Instead of whinning or whimpering, Jack turned his back from Rai and sobbed loudly. "You guys are always winning! If I just took the Wu when I had the chance, this wouldn't have happened!" Rai pitied him. Not like it's that hard to pity some one smearing their eyeliner, but it was some thing slightly heartfelt. Jack was always being bossed by Wuya, which Rai knew was something that could dig under some one's skin. He knew from experience.

The evil genius snuffled. In almost a whisper he mused, "You know, it gets harder and harder to come back to these fights. The showdowns, even the witty banter's starting to hurt." Rai sighed. This was getting old, fast.

He stood up and walked to the depressed boy, putting a hand on his shoulder. Jack was surprised, yet it definitely caught his attention.

"You're skilled at many things, Spicer. You're ability to go for something again and again is rare. Don't lose it."

Jack let a few more tears escape, yet ones full of hope. No one had praised him, aside from his mother, but she didn't count. It was something new to him. _These good guys... they're not so bad... _Jack thought, wipping away the make up.

A moment of awkward silence was shared, that is, until a deep rumbling came from one of the walls. Jack squeaked whilst Rai stood toward the wall, ready to fight off whatever was behind the object. _Thump! Thump! Crash!_ Dust flew everywhere, making both guys cough. Through the cloud of dust, a few dark silhouettes stood. They seemed familiar, but the paranoia from the moment wouldn't let Raimundo put his guard.

The dust settled a little, but not enough. He stalled as he contemplated over whom was standing before him. So familiar...

As the cloud finally faded enough, he knew exactly who came to save him--the rest of the Xiaolin monks.

"RAI!!" Kimi squealed as she wrapped both arms around him in a moment of happiness before she slapped him.

"That's what you get for making me worry!"

Rai rubbed over the red patch of skin, pouting just a bit.

Jack looked from where he was cowering, feeling a pang of jealousy. To always be accepted. He didn't know what it felt like, but he'd probably like it if some one would give him the chance.

Almost as though his thoughts of them had a paranormal effect, the group noticed Jack and felt like kicking his face in.

"You vermin! Why I outta-" Clay was once again interupted, but this time by Rai.

"Just leave him be! We've got the Wu, and that's all that matters!"

"Are you for certain, Rai? He was just going to keep you suspended."

"Leave you hangin'?"

"That too!"

Raimundo looked from his gang to the lonely goth sitting on the dirty floor. He nodded.

"That rattlesnake woulda left you a bushel of bots to deal with if things were on his side, ya know."

"Yeah, yeah! But isn't that why we're the good guys? Now let's just go before I do change my mind!"

They all found this reaction odd, but decided they'd further interogate him when they reached the temple. At the moment, they felt the heat was doing crazy things to their heads.

All aboard the air plane also known as Dojo, Rai looked back to the human giving him a pitiful stare. _He must have a handful to go through... _He thought for a moment, sparing a wave to him. _If we're lucky, maybe he'll use his technological knowledge for our side one day_. The idea seemed like some crazy fantasy, yet so did magical objects with special powers within them.

* * *

Jack watched them all leave, the sun slightly setting to give them some ethereal feel to them._ Not a bad group, though they could use a bit more muscle. Maybe I'll join up with them again. One day. But not now. Too busy being evil at the moment_, the boy genius thought, putting his pack over his lap and taking out a screwdriver and some spare parts. _Not to mention I gotta fix this before nightfall._


End file.
